UNHAPPINESS IN HAITI

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Waving tree branches, chanting "down with the military" and singing Auld Lang Syne in Creole, thousands of Haitians swarmed around the presidential palace on Tuesday as pressure continued for the military government of Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy to resign.

It was the largest demonstration since deposed President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier was ousted in February 1986. The crowd numbered more than 5,000, with protesters jeering soldiers who protected the palace and the various military officials who watched from windows above.

"We come here to find a solution of peace," said Benoit Auguste, 32.

Only a few protesters were reported arrested and no shots were fired, as Haitian soldiers kept a low profile in the wake of violence last week that resulted in at least 24 people being killed and 104 wounded by security forces.

The only military presence was squads of soldiers who manned blockhouses on the corners of the palace grounds and a few others who stood guard in the driveway or sprawled on the grass inside an iron security fence that separated them from demonstrators who milled outside in the streets.

"They are a sickness for which there is no medicine. It's the same people as the government of Duvalier," said Leonard Thimestocle, 30, a Port-au-Prince resident, as he stood near one of the blockhouses.

The protest was part of a general strike, now in its second week, that has brought usually bustling Port-au-Prince to a standstill. There are virtually no cars on the streets and most shops are shuttered, as residents have vowed not to resume work until Namphy resigns.

A teen-ager in the crowd was wearing an orange shirt emblazoned with the message: "GO CANES. BEAT NEBRASKA. JAN. 2, 1984."

About a thousand people chanted and sang as they ran along the street in front of the palace.

"We sing goodbye to Namphy," one man yelled as he ran by.

The demonstration ended in the afternoon, but the discontent that threatens the Namphy government remained.

"This. This is what we don't want. Too dirty. We want life," said Sam, a taxi driver who did not want his last name used, as he ferried journalists through the tin shacks and foul air of the Cite Soleil, or Sun City, slum district.

The leaders of the 57 organizations that called the general strike say it will go on, even though it will be suspended for today.

"Haitians are a very poor people," explained one U.S. official. "Every couple of days, they call off the strike so they can restock their larders."

Thursday is to be a national day of mourning, with the strike resuming. More demonstrations are planned for Friday.

Pierre-Robert Auguste, an information official for the Namphy government, said on Tuesday that he thinks it can survive the crisis if it communicates better with the people.

He said free elections are planned for late this year -- a president would be inaugurated in February -- and pointed out that the government last week rescinded a controversial decree that took control of elections away from the independent Electoral Council, and also rescinded an order repressing a labor union.

The decree and the repression order were largely responsible for the civil unrest that has evolved into a call for Namphy to resign.

"The government has recognized the errors it has made. It annulled all of the problems it created," Auguste said.

But even as he spoke, opposition leaders were jockeying for position to take advantage of any Namphy resignation.

Among those was Bernard Sansaricq, a former Broward County service station owner who now leads the Parti Populaire National Haitien.

He held a press conference on Tuesday to announce that his party and three others were proposing a five-member council to assume power until a free election can be held.

Discussions were being held with the 57 organizations that sponsored the strike, and he said an agreement could come as soon as today.